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Buckingham 1863 Dutton, Allen & Co directory

Buckingham pub history index & 1863 Gentry & Traders

Directory of Pubs in the UK, historical public houses, Taverns, Inns, Beer Houses and Hotels in Buckinghamshire. The Buckinghamshire listing uses information from census, Trade Directories and History to add licensees, bar staff, Lodgers and Visitors.

BUCKINGHAM is a parish, borough, and ancient market town, in the hundred, union, and county of its name; situate on the London and Birmingham road, and on the Banbury and Bletchley branch of the London and North Western Railway, 57 miles N.W. from London, 17 N.W. from Aylesbury, 10 from Wolverton, and 24 N.N.E. from Oxford. For civil and ecclesiastical purposes the town and parish are co-extensive, and comprise the district of Gawcott, the hamlets of Bourton, Bufflers Holt, Lenborough, the district of Bourton Holt, and the Precinct of Prebend End. The town stands on a bend of the river Ouse, by which it is nearly surrounded, and over which are three handsome stone bridges; the houses are generally of brick, and the place is paved, lighted with gas, and well supplied with water. In the year 1725 it suffered severely from fire, at which time property was destroyed to the amount of about £40,000. The earliest charter of incorporation dates from the reign of Edward III., which charter was confirmed by Henry VIII and afterwards by Queen Mary in 1554, in return for services rendered by the inhabitants in the suppression of the Duke of Northumberland's rebellion, on the Queen's accession to the throne; this charter appears to have been surrendered and a new one granted in the 36th year of Charles II., 1684 The corporation acted upon the latter for several years, but in consequence of a dispute with James II, in 1688 - during which the King successively removed three mayors elected by them in the course of three months - quo warrantos were issued, and after some litigation the charter of Charles II. was also surrendered. The corporation afterwards availed themselves of the Proclamation for restoring surrendered charters, by resuming the charter of Mary, under which they hare ever since continued to act, and by which the government was vested in a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, under the style of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses of the borough and parish of Buckingham, in the county of Buckingham. The borough has returned two members to Parliament, since the 33rd of Henry VIII. Before the passing of the Reform Act the members of the corporation, thirteen in number, had the exclusive right of voting, and were in the interest of the Duke of Buckingham. The parliamentary limits comprise the several parishes of Buckingham, Maids Morton, Thornborough, Padbury, Hillesden, Preston-Bissett, Tingewick, and Ratcliffe-cumChackmore. The present members are - Sir Harry Verney, Bart., and John Gellibrand Hubbard, Esq. The town is a polling station for the election of county members, and has given the title of Duke to the families of Stafford, Villiers, and Sheffield; it now confers it on the distinguished family of Grenville. A good amount of business is transacted here; many of the poor are employed in making lace; there are two breweries, two corn mills, and an extensive tannery. At the Canal Wharf are steam mills for crushing bones, and a superphosphate of lime manufactory, in the occupation of Mr. Henry Thorpe. An important market is held on Saturday, for meat and corn, at which there is always a large attendance of the neighbouring farmers; a calf market (said to be the largest in England) is also held on Monday. Twelve fairs are held annually, as follows:- January 12, last Monday in January, March 7, second Monday in April, May 6, Whit Thursday, second Wednesday in August, September 4, November 8, December 13, cattle, July 10, wool and cattle, October 2, Sat. after October 11, cattle, hiring.
The Town Hall, situate in the centre of the town, is a neat brick building, containing the chambers for holding the courts. Here the Magistrates' meeting is held for the Borough. A conspicuous object at the bottom of the Market Square is the Borough Gaol, built in the style of a Gothic castle, with square towers, battlements, &c.; it was erected by Lord Cobham in 1848, at an expense of £7000. On the committal of county prisoners they are removed hence to Aylesbury, so that the Gaol is now only used for them as a temporary place of confinement; the Borough prisoners undergo their sentence here.
The Parish Church, dedicated to St. Peter, is the most conspicuous object of the town, and was erected in 1781, on the mound of an ancient castle, said to have been built before the Conquest by one of the Earls of Buckingham; the occasional discovery of the foundations of which constitute its only vestiges. The church, an elegant modern structure of free-stone, was begun in 1777 and completed in four years, at an expense of £7000, principally contributed by Earl Temple. At the west is a handsome tower, with pinnacles, embrasures, and a symmetrical spire rising to the height of 150 feet. The interior is elegantly fitted up in the Doric and Ionic styles, with richly ornamented columns and arched ceiling; the altar-piece, presented by the Marquis of Buckingham, is a good copy of the celebrated painting of the Transfiguration by Raffaelle. The living is a vicarage, rated in Liber Regis at £22, present annual value about £450; the Rev W. F. Norris, is vicar. The Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, have each a chapel here. The Free Grammar School, now called St. John's Royal Latin School, was founded by Edward VI., and endowed with the revenues of a chantry belonging to the Guild of the Holy Trinity. This chapel was founded in the year 1268, by Matthew Strutton, Archdeacon of Buckingham, and dedicated to St. John the Baptist and to St. Thomas a Beckett. The school is enclosed by an ancient wall with a Norman doorway, which, with the seats erected in the time of Edward VI., are objects of great interest. Six boys are educated on the foundation. Extensive grounds are attached, making it a very desirable residence for the scholars, who are prepared principally for commercial pursuits, under the superintendence of Mr. T. Owain Jones, the head-master. Wycliffe house, a large Elizabethan structure in Well street, is occupied as a Classical and Mathematical School for young gentlemen of which Mr. E. W. Simmons, M.R.c.p., is the head-master, There is a National School, a British School, and a Green Coat School for 25 boys; the latter founded and endowed in 1760, by Mr. Gabriel Newton, Alderman of Leicester. The principal charity is two almshouses, called Christ's Hospital, endowed for 12 poor women; the other charities connected with the town produce about £140 annually.
Buckingham may lay claim to a history of great antiquity. Bishop Kennett, in his "Parochial Antiquities," mentions it as the probable spot where the Roman general Aulus Plautius surprised and routed the Britons under the command of Caractacus and Togodumnus, the sons of Cunobelin. In 1837 the remains of a Roman villa were discovered on a farm on the road to Stony Stratford, within two miles of Buckingham; and a coin found with a reverse bearing the Cross and the Alpha and Omega, indicate that it was struck after the reign of the Emperor Constantine, probably by one of his sons or the usurper Decentius. Within a mile of this villa are two tumuli or barrows, which are thought to contain the remains of those wfo fell in the battle above alluded to. The town was celebrated in early Saxon times as the burial-place of St. Rumbald, whose coffin was discovered in the old structure that stood on the site of the present parish church. According to an absurd Popish legend, he was born at King's Sutton, but only lived three days, during which time he discoursed, says Fuller, "of all the commonplaces of Popery," was baptised and bequeathed his body to his birth-place for one year, to Brackley for two years, and afterwards to Buckingham for ever. His well and shrine were much resorted to by pilgrims. About two miles N.W. from Buckingham is Stowe House, the magnificent seat of the Duke of Buckingham; the avenue leading from the town to the grand Corinthian arched entrance is a most beautiful gravelled promenade, two miles in length. The mansion consists of a centre, with a portico flanked by two wings; the entire length of the facade being 916 feet. The Gardens have the reputation of being the finest example of landscape gardening in this country, and were originally laid out by Sir Richard Temple, Viscount Cobham. The art treasures, for which this noble seat was lately so celebrated, are now dispersed through an act of unexampled and heroic abnegation generally known to the public. In 1861 the population of the municipal limits was 3849, and of the parliamentary limits 7626; Area of the entire parish 4777 acres.

Gawcott, lately made a separate ecclesiastical parish, is listed separately
Bourton and Lenborough are each hamlets in the parish of Buckingham, from which town the former is distant l 1/2 miles E., and the latter 2 miles S. Population in 1861 - Bourton 44, Lenborough 53; acreage included in Buckingham.


And Last updated on: Wednesday, 02-Oct-2024 13:21:00 BST